Recently I was talking to a friend about recurring dreams. He said he doesn’t have them anymore, but he used to sometimes have the one about being completely unprepared for a test in school. I said “What about the naked dream?”
He said, “The naked dream?” like he really didn’t know.
“You know the one where you’re at work or at a party or whatever, and you look down and you’re not wearing a shirt,” I said, and then, remembering it’s different for him, I added, “or pants.”
“I’ve never had that dream,” he said.
I couldn’t believe it. “Never?”
“I’d remember if I had.”
I was stunned. I still am. I thought everyone had that dream. As soon as I got home, I looked it up – the naked dream – and it means what I expected it to mean. If you’re dreaming about being naked or partially naked in public, it indicates a fear of being exposed. According to dreammoods.com, “With all eyes on you, you fear that some flaw will be brought to public attention. You fear that people will see through to your true self and you will be exposed as a fraud or a phony.”
On the bright side, in my recurring naked dreams, no one seems to notice my lack of coverage. In that case, dreammoods.com says, “your fears are unfounded; no one will notice except you. You may be magnifying the situation and making an issue of nothing.”
Yeah. Let’s go with that.
I have other recurring dreams. I often dream that I can’t find my dog, Lexi, and I know that when I do, something terrible will have happened. And there’s more, but I’m curious. What are your recurring dreams? And are any of them happy?
Firstly, why is it re-curring and not re-occuring? I haven’t had an occurrence (haha) of my recurring dreams in a long time, so I guess they are no longer recurring ;-) How’s that for a confusing sentence. I love to think about my ‘happy’ recurring dream so I just had to write quickly about it. I had it the first time when I was about 7 I think, then again around 11, then as a teen and I think once more in my early 20’s. It’s kind of weird that I remember it so vividly. I suppose it’s because it was so euphoric. In the dream, I am standing on a hill and there is the scent of fresh lumber (I’ve heard that having a scent in your dream is odd. Well, unless if you sleep with your dog at the foot of your bed and then you probably don’t smell lumber — haha). Anyway, I love the scent of lumber, like when you go into that part of Home Depot or when you are at the construction site of a new home. So, yeah, the editor in you probably hates this structure of mine . . . I am on a hill, I cannot see where the lumber or wood is but the message of “wood” is really prominent in my mind – as if I must be in a place called ‘Cedar Hills’ or something. I can see a heat wave on the road and at that point I feel this amazing euphoria. That is actually odd for me because I don’t like the heat. The dream is obviously very simple (sorry if you were waiting for something exciting to happen), but the sensations were so intense. I’ve thought for years and years that I would one day find myself in that place – but, still it has not happened. Maybe, I need to search out some new home sites on a hill in the summer at a place with some kind of wood in the name! And there, I will find God — or a really sexy construction worker, either one would be good right now :-)
I haven’t had the naked dream since I was a child. Nor have I had the suddenly remembering I’m about to take a test I haven’t studied for dream for some time. But I do still ocassionally have a recurring dream where I find a room in my house I didn’t know existed and it’s filled with wonderful treasures.
Considering the house is an archetype for the soul/spirit, that’s a very nice dream to have.
Yes — I’ve had the naked dream. And I’ve had the standing in front of an audience and forgot all my lines dream, I haven’t been in a play in about 27 years. But, I have two re-occurring dreams. The first is a tornado dream, no matter how fast I run or where I hide, the tornado always finds me — I’ve been having this dream repeatedly since I was a small child, hmm. The second is a dream where I’m at a pajama party and I’m the first to fall asleep and when I wake up, my bra is in the freezer.
Carey, 1) That was such a great description. 2) I totally want you to find yourself there one day. 3) Can’t decide who I want to be waiting there for you. Maybe God with a sexy construction worker gift?
Linda, Wow! I would love to have that as a recurring dream! I do dream of houses a lot, but I’m always lost in them. And the rooms get increasingly strange or scary. House = soul/spirit, huh? :-(
Becky, the tornado dream is interesting. Wonder if it hits you during particularly turbulent times. Bra in the freezer dream… that’s sort of my life. ;-)
Thank you so much!!! I’ve been trying to search the meaning of my recurring dreams for months now, yet I I always end up somehwhere completely different and Google anything but that…
Now I have no excuse, typing it in right now :)
PS: I think I’d scare you if I told you what I dream of… so I’ll spare you.
Oh, I did remember a recurring dream I had when I was little, like 4 or 5 years old.
I was in a white shirt and blue skirt, walking to some kind of building or fort or something like that, which had huge gates.
The gates opened, I entered, but as soon as I took one step, the ground was gone and I was falling (for quite a long time before waking up and it always scared the heck out of me…).
I don’t remember ever having the naked dream, but I know what it is. And I think that since it is so common that I probably have had it I just don’t remember it.
My recurring dreams are usually of me “getting ready” and I hate “getting ready” so I wake up and I am disappointed that I have to “do it again.” But I have had this dream less since I don’t get up everyday and go to a job.
Estrella, I think it’s so interesting how vivid some dreams are, that you remember even the color and type of your clothes, and how the gates looked. I don’t know how much I believe in dream interpretation, but I love guessing what the details mean anyway.
Terre, That’s funny that you dream of getting ready. Do you dream you’re late? I sometimes dream I’m late and then I wake up, and it’s not time to get up, so I fall back to sleep and then… I’m late. Premonitions. Hate them.
come to think of it, I have never had the naked dream, and I don’t have recurring dreams. I think when I remember my dreams, they are just too wacky to repeat – walking into rooms that change into trains, that turn into countrysides… I do tend to have some pretty vivid dreams, and only rarely have I had nightmares. I think I like my dream life. It’s normally pretty fun, and taps into my creative side, or touches on the side of my life that I would rather focus on (or that I would like to happen).
So, having said all of that, watch… i’ll probably have the naked dream tonight (would serve me right, don’t you think? ) :-)
TPM, Never? Ever? Okay, I’m going to have to accept that there are some people too Zen for the naked dream.
I think I’m having all your nightmares, because I have more than any adult should. My dream life is sometimes wonderful, but often scary. Okay, so here’s the plan. Once we work out the whole dream hopping thing, you can hop on over and take care of all my bad guys. What do you say, superhero TPM?
Yes, I do believe that I dream I am late, but it is probably more of a memory because I am late often. :-)
I have a few repeaters in my lifetime.
One I had for about 2 months every night. It was my car was on fire and I stop in the middle of the highway and get out safely. My car explodes and I know I’m safe. Then about a month later my car (which was turned off in the garage) explodes and burns down my house. I was in the shower at the time but got out safely due to the garbage man.
(true story)
The other is me flying. I just walk down a street and then lift up gently off the ground and then I’m airborne. I am completely relaxed and happy. I hardly ever remember my dreams but when I do it’s this one.
I can’t remember being naked dream except for one. I’m on a beach and little triangles that are mirrored unfold around and cover my whole body. I am therefore reflective of whatever is around me and I disappear.
Love this post and reading everyone’s comments. Mairi
(said in a superhero voice) “Dreamhoppers, away!”
I don’t believe in dream interpretation too much either.
Mainly because yes, you can interpret some dreams generally and randomly.
But each individual can’t have the same exact feelings about the things they dream of
(for example a criminal probably has another interpretation of their dream than an average person who doesn’t even litter). :)
It’s funny though how sometimes dreams come true and can be interpreted.
It’s like the horoscope I think.
I used to have the same recurring (re-occurring? ) dream the night before Christmas. It was something about My Little Ponies, snow, and mud men. Every single Christmas, until i was like 12.
I also used to dream that the blankets were pulling me into the headboard (something that goes on in exorcist, i think. Wonder if i saw that as a kid and don’t remember!) and that a hole opened in the bed, and there was this fox in the hole who wanted to eat me. i had nightmares a lot as a child, and a very vivid imagination.
Aliens lived in my shower. They smelled like Crest Kids toothpaste. The green, sparkly kind.
Wow, Mairi! Talk about premonition. That’s spooky. I have all these questions about the exploding car, but they have nothing to do with the dream. I wonder if it’s significant that most of the time you don’t remember dreams… so that when you do, you should pay attention.
And, how unfair is it that I have had many, many versions of the naked dream, but have never once dreamed about flying. NEVER. I seriously need to work on my subconscious mind.
TPM, Love your superhero voice!
Estrella, I think you’re right in that I can’t imagine that a purple giraffe means the same thing to everyone, but there are some interpretations that seem obvious. Like public nakedness being about exposure or insecurity. (On the other hand, if you’re an exhibitionist, it would mean something totally different, wouldn’t it?)
Maybe that just means if you’re going to interpret, it’s an interpretation specific to you…
Leighann, We were commenting at the same time. Finally, someone who dreams like me. Seriously, mud men, suffocating blankets, a scary fox in a hole in the closet – that’s the kind of dream that wakes me up at night. Definitely have to go visit your blog for a glimpse at the mind those dreams spring from!
Aliens smell like Crest Kids Toothpaste. Good to know. ;-)
oh brother, I have conducted symphonies, been a member of the Beatles, fought for truth and justice and the American way, gone on dates, drove a race car, walked down the halls of high school and a myriad of other things ALL while being naked!! (hmmm, I wonder if I should have added “in my dreams” to the end of that sentence??)
Bobby, No, definitely not. I like it just like it is. :-)
Haven’t had a naked dream since junior high. Or maybe it wasn’t a dream … oh, never mind. Anyhoo, I don’t like sci-fi; don’t read it, don’t watch it, but I dream in it. Usually the planets are getting bigger due to their getting closer. They are very scary dreams because we are all watching our impending doom at a very slow pace. Sometimes there are spaceships, sometimes just crop circles, but I dream these more often than any other type of dream.
I’ve also had Exorcist type dreams where a hand bell at my bedside levitates and starts ringing, then I get sucked into some type of abyss.
I don’t have recurring dreams often, but when I do, it almost always involves traversing through a building or house that is often tilted (as if from some serious earthquake or other major jumbling event.) I am usually working my way through the building, room by room, climbing through the jumbled mess. Often the dream involves finding and saving or rescuing someone, usually someone I know.
I have had this kind of dream at least once per year and sometimes as often as 2-3 times in a year. The building is rarely the same one, but the crazy tilt and condition is the signature component of the recurrence.
So I have no clue, but maybe it is when I am subconsciously working through something? I’m never sure when I wake up what the “something” is, although we are always working through things and like Horoscopes or Fortune cookies, you can almost always find parallels…so, who knows?
cmw
Tricia, I just knew you’d understand the naked dream (even if you grew up to be well adjusted and left me here in my arrested state). Crop circle dreams? That’s awesome! (Well, yes, scary too, but if you could just insert Mulder and Scully in there, you might even start looking forward to your scary alien dreams! We are not alone.)
cmw, It’s because you’re a superhero trapped in your mortal body. BREAK FREE! (That’s my professional analysis. And by professional I mean idiot savant.)
How sad and stressful that dream about looking for Lexi must be!!
I have recurring dreams about trying to find a clean public bathroom stall and only finding foul ones with disgusting out-of-order toilets or else no privacy with no doors on the stalls…
Also, I often have the scary highway overpass ones where I keep driving and I am high up and don’t know where I am going…..or oncoming tidal wave dreams…
Yeah, I have some “issues”.
Also…it was so interesting reading everyone else’s dreams…I especially liked the one with the bra in the freezer!! There is no way you could ever look THAT up in one of those dream dictionaries, I am pretty sure.
Hi Tina! Yes, I hate the Lexi dream. I usually wake up without having found her, but a few times I did find her and that was even worse! I’ve had the toilet dream too! I forgot, but I’ve had it many times. (Isn’t it reassuring when someone is warped in the same way that you are?)
I know, I’m totally loving reading everyone’s dreams. Maybe I need a recurring dream post. Hmmm…